The culture of control in Ireland: theorising recent developments in criminal justice

This article uses the theoretical insights in David Garland’s The Culture of Control to analyse current trends in the Irish criminal justice process. Considerable changes have occurred in the justice system in Ireland, and conceptual constructs such as the indices of change, the crime complex and the responses of the state to the predicament of crime control are useful in seeking to explain and interpret these developments. Although aspects of Garland’s thesis are not sustainable in Ireland, his work provides a useful lens through which current Irish criminal justice policy may be viewed.